XXXIV.

The which doe men in bale to ferve.] Which cause mankind to perish in trouble, reapfan, mori: though now used in a particular fenfe, to die with hunger. Chaucer ufes it in its ancient fenfe, as our poet, who is all antique.

Ibid.

Such cruell game my fearmoges difarms.] This is more poetical and elegant, than if written, Such cruell fearmoges my game difarms. scarmoges, fkirmishes. Ital. fear amuchia. Gallefcarmouche. from the German, schirmen, velitari: or originally, perhaps, from the Greek xáun pugna. Sibila litterâ praepofitâ, et per metathefin, SCRAMA, fcaromuchia, a fkirmish. How many paffages might be brought from the poets, to fhow the analogy between the wars of Mars, and the skirmishes of Cupid ?— Cruell game is Horatian;

In Phaedria's fitt barck over that perlous fhard.] We ufe hard in the weft of England for a gap made in the hedge: it feems a great abufe of the word, and very catachreftically expreffed to apply this word to a ford.-Again, a fhard is generally ufed for a fragment, from the Anglo-S. rceapan, to heare, or cut off. This ifland of Phaedria was har'd off from the land; a kind of fragment or fhard by means of the idle lake intervening. Euboeam infulam continenti adhaerentem, tenui freto reciprocantibus aquis Euripus ABSCIDIT. Florus ii. 8.

Nequicquam deus ABSCIDIT

Prudens oceano diffociabili
Terras-

XLIII.

Harrow now out, and well away.] See thefe words explained in the Gloffary. Presently after, the first edition reads thus,

What dismal day hath lent BUT THIS his curfed light,

To fee my lord fo deadly damnifyde? Pyrrhocles, O Pyrrhocles, what is thee betyde? This is not altered among the errors of the prefs, though many faults of leffer note are: but in the 2d quarto 'tis thus printed, What difmal day hath lent this cursed lightAnd fo the folios: It feems that Spenfer wrote this, and corrected it his, and that the printer gave us both; I would therefore read, What difmal day hath lent his curfed light, To fee my lord fo deadly damnifyde? BUT Pyrochles, what, Pyrochles, is thee betyde? So that we have found a proper place for this BUT; and have accounted for the other words. XLVI.

The waves thereof fo flow and fluggish were, Engroft with mud, which did them fowle agrife, That every weighty thing they did upbeare—] It feems to me that Spenfer had in view the lake Afphaltus, or Afphaltites, commonly called the Dead Sea, when he wrote this defcription of the Idle Lake. I will cite Sandys, who in his hiftory of the Holy-land, has given us the following relation. The river Jordan is at length devoured by that curfed lake Afphaltites, fo named of the bitumen which it vomiteth. (See Pliny v. 16.) called alfo the Dead Sea; perhaps in that it nourisheth no living creature; or for his heavy waters hardly to be moved by the winds. [Juftin xxxvi. 6. Corn. Tacitus Hiftor. v.] So extreme falt, that whatfoever is throwne thereinto not easily finketh. Vefpatian, for a trial, caufed divers to be caft in bound hand and foot, who floated as if fupported by fome fpirit. [Jofeph. de bell. Judaic. v. 5.] I think the parallel may be eafily feen. Dante likewife, Infern. Cant. viii. hence imaged that dead and fluggish lake which he names la morta gora. And Taffo in this Afphaltic lake places the ifland of Armida. ifland of Armida. See Taflo, x. 62. xvi. 71. XLVII.

fave.

fword Archimago had ftolen from P. Arthur, fee above, B. ii. C. 3. St. 18. and below, B. ii. C. 8. St. 19.

XLVIII.

XLVIII. Weake hands, but counfell is most strong in age.] i. e. In old age the hands are weak, but counsel moft Atrong. ή μὲν δύναμις ἐν νεωτέροις, ἡ δὲ φρόνησις iCurigs. Ariftot. Polit. L. vi.

LI.

Or with the hidden fier inlay warmd.] I have fol

lowed the reading of the 2d quarto and folios, and it feems a plain alteration of the poet, upon fecond thoughts.-Archimago here applies not only herbs, but fpells to the wounded knight, according to the ancient practice of phyficians; a circumstance which poets seldom fail of mentioning.

C A

GUYON finds Mammon in a delve

Sunning his threafure hore,

From the Anglo-S. hoɲig, fordidus, mucidus. not hoary, from hap, canus.

I.

As Pilot well expert in perilous wave,
That to A fedfaft farre his courfe hath bent.] I
would rather read, That to THE fted faft far-
i. e. the pole-ftar: the ftar in the tail of the
leffer bear; Cynofura: THE ftedfaft ftarre—the
faithful light to mariners.

Poenis haec certior auctor
Non apparentem pelago quaerentibus orbem.

Manil. i. 302. Aratus, ver. 42. vaúrnow ågelwr. nautis ufus in hac eft. Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 41.

IV.

VII.

Well yet appeared-] This is the reading of the firft old quarto the following editions read, Well it appeared-which plainly destroys the perfpicuity of the conftruction.-A werke of rich entaile, fo Ch. in the Rom. of the Rofe, ver. 162.

An image of another entaile,

i. e. carving, sculpture. Ital. intagliare: intaglio. V.

Some in round plates withouten moniment.] Spelt as the Ital. monimento: meaning here, image, superscription, ornament. yvwpopa, gnorisma,

And thefe rich HILS of wealth doth hide apart.} HILS is not improper here: and yet all the editions excepting the two quartos, read

that are accompanied with noble thoughts.

taken poffeffion of St. vi. perhaps the roving

eye

i. e. Unless it [filver] fhine with temperate ufaunce. So Spenfer, heaps of wealth are mere durt, unless THEY fhine with THEIR right ufaunce. Seneca fays prettily of riches, ufu crefcunt ad pretium. And thus philofophically the Roman Menander,

Atque haec perinde funt, ut illius animus, qui ea poffidet;

Qui uti fcit, ei bona; illi, qui non utitur recte, mala. Heaut. Act. i. Sc. iii. We will leave these corrections to the reader's further confideration.

VIII.

God of THE world and worldings I me call Great Mammon- Mammon is mentioned in Matt. vi. 24. Luke xvi. 13. Riches unjustly gained are the wages of the Devil, or of that invifible being, the god of the world and worldings, but I would rather read,

God of THIS world and worldings

So John xii. 31. Prince of THIS WORLD. And 1 Corinth. ii. 6. Prince of THIS age.-THIS zvicked world: THIS corrupted age. He is fuppofed to affift men in their unrighteous acquifitions of riches, hence Mammon in the Syriae, and Plutus in the Greek languages, which fignify riches, fignify likewife the god of

riches.

In Milton, Par. Reg. iv. 203. Satan thus fays of himself,

God of THIS world invok'd, and world beneath. Mammon is finely described, [in Par, loft, B. i. 680.] even in his angelical ftate his thoughts were downward bent, admiring more the trodden gold and riches of heaven,

Then aught divine or holy elfe enjoy'd
In vifion beatific. By him firft
Men alfo, and by his fuggeftion taught
Ranfack'd the center, and with impious hands

Rifled the bowels of their mother earth, For treasures better bid.

Itum eft in vifcera terrae,
Quafque recondiderat, Stygiifq; admoverat umbris,
Effodiuntur opes irritamenta malorum.

Ov. Met. i. 138. See below St. 17.

This Mammon has many names, Orcus, Ades, Jupiter Stygius, Zivs xónos, Plutus, Pluto, &c. τὸν Πλῶτον Πλάτωνα λέγεσι, καὶ ἐικότως τὸν ἀυτὸν τῳ, Πλάτωνι τὸν ἅδην νομίζεσι. Schol. ad Ariftoph. Plut. ver. 727. Terrena autem vis omnis atque natura Diti patri dedicata eft: qui Dives, ut apud Graecos Пrar, quia et recidant omnia in terras & oriantur è terris. Cic. Nat. Deor. ii. 26.

Ωφελες, ὦ τυφλὲ Πλᾶτε,
Μήτ ̓ ἐν γῇ, μήτ' ἐν θαλάττῃ
Μήτ ̓ ἐν ἠπέιρῳ φανημέναι·

̓Αλλὰ Ταρταρόν γε νάιειν, κ' ̓Αχέροντας
Διά σε γὰρ πάντ ̓ ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακά.
[Utinam, vel] debuifti, o caece Plute,
Neque in terra, neque mari,
Neque in continente apparere.

Sed Tartarum utique incolere, & Acheronta.
Propter te etenim omnia apud homines mala.
Timocreontis fcholium.

Let me detain my reader a little longer in viewing, the god of THIS world, and of wordlings, this in Lucian's Timon. Go back to St. 3. where he money god. Πλετοδότης, Μεγαλόδωρος, as he is named

is defcribed.

An uncouth, falvage wight, of griefly hew, and fowl ill-favoured-

This is exactly his description in the Greek play, called Plutus papúτates, ver. 78. x, ver. ; : μιαρώτατος, 84. denotatos Tartar dasμórar, ver. 123. δειλότατος πάντων δαιμόνων, And in Lucian's Timon we have the following defcription ὠχρὸς, Φροντίδοςἀναπλέως, συνεσπακὼς τὰς danτines Ted's To idos Trouλhayop. Pallidus, curis δακτύλες πρὸς ἔθος τῶν συλλογίσμων. plenus, contractis digitis, ut fieri folet in rationum collectionibus. So in St. 3.—and nailes like clawes appeared with hooky nailes, like the ravenous harpies. His coward character we have, St. 6. -in great affright and hafte he rofe-his hand, that trembled as one terrified.

him,

Perhaps too Spenfer had Pears Plowman before And then came covetis-Wyth two blered eyen: See St. 3. And eyes were bleared. And Ch. Rom.

Rose. ver. 202.

Ful croked were his hondis two:
For covetife is ever wode
To gripin othir folkis gode.

X. Me ill BEFITS that in der-doing armes.] Thus it is printed in most of the editions. Befits, is the interpretation of the old reading befits, as rightly printed in the old quarto. Sir Guyon fays,

Faire fhields, gay freedes, bright armes be my delight, Thofe be the riches fit for an adventurous knight. Thus Orlando refufes riches.

-e non mi i grava

D'effermi pofto a rischio di morire,
Che di pericol folo, e di fatica
Il cavalier fi pafce e fi nutrica.

Berni Orl. Innam, L. i. C. 25. St. 19.

XII.

First got with guile and then preferv'd with dread
Infinite mifchiefs of them [riches] do arise
Strife and debate-

That noble hart in great dishonour doth defpize.]

Tantis parta malis, curâ majore, metuque
Servantur.

Juvenal. xiv. 303. The 2d quarto and folios inftead of in great difhonour, read as great dishonour.

That noble heart, as great dishonour doth defpife. i. e. the which a noble heart doth defpife as a great difhonour. That is perpetually ufed for the which: and the particles a, the, are as frequently

omitted.

XIV.

Who fwelling fayles in Cafpian fea doth crosse, And in frail wood on Adrian gulfe doth fleet. Doth not I ween fo many evils meet.] The 1ft verfe is difficult perhaps the conftruction is, who doth cross his fuelling fails in the Cafpian fea: or, who fwelling the failes of his fhip (i. e. failing) in the Caspian fea doth cross it: and who doth fleet, or flit, in frail wood on the tempestuous Adriatic fea,

doth not, &c. I could easily alter these verses, but I rather chose to explain them,

Whofe fwelling fayles in Cafpian fea doe cross,
And in fraile wood-

By this alteration, who is omitted in the 2d verfe, which is agreeable to Spenser's frequent manner of omitting the relative.

XV.

XX.

A darksome way-] Mammon leads Sir Guyon

into the fubterranean caverns of the earth, and discovers to him his treafures. Ibant obfcuri, &c. Virg. iv. 268.

Eft via declivis, funestâ nubila taxo :
Ducit aa infernas per muta filentia fedes.

Ov. Met. iv. 432. See xiv. 122. In these verses, cited from Ovid, the learned reader may obferve the construction which Spenfer often ufes, viz. of omitting the relative or pronoun. Quae via ducit; ea via ducit; but Heinfius alters it.

Ibid.

Pope

That wrath, which hurl'd to Plutoes gloomy reign,

The fouls of mighty chiefs untimely flain.

In our old poets reign is used for realm or region. And fo Milton i. 543.

Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.

Ibid.

By that wayes fide there fat internall Payne-] So the Ift edition, but the 2d with the folios read, infernall Payne. They are all infernall all diabolical imps of Erebus and Night; as the reader may fee in Cicero de Nat. Deor. iii. 17. and may confult at his leifure the notes of Dr. Davis. If infernal is Spenfer's own correction; then these horrid imps, that befet the entrance into hell, are all characterized from the firft, which is payne, as infernal: for the epithet is applicable to them all : but if internal is Spenfer's reading then Payne is particularly characterized; fuch payne as afflict men internally fo particularly he characterizes tumultuous Strife, cruel Revenge, &c.-After Virgil's poetical defcription of thefe imaginary beings, all the latin poets almoft, have followed him. Metus Laborq; Funus, et FRENDENS DOLOR. Sen. Hercul. Fur. ver. 693.

Impatienfq; fui Morbus.-

Claud. in Ruf. i. 32. I will not fill my paper with what is fo well known, but thefe have generally given them proper epithets.-If Spenfer therefore wrote internal, we must explain it, pain that afflicts men internally if infernal, which I rather think, then this general epithet, though joined to paine, as ftanding firft, is applicable to them all. Let the reader please himself.

Ibid.

Strife-brandifhed a bloody knife-] This is copied from Chaucer in the Knights tale. 2005. Contek with bloody knife, i. e. Contention, frite, geminumque tenens Difcordia ferrum. Statius, L. vii. XXIII.

And over them fad Horror-] Over them, i. e. over thofe infernal imps mentioned in the Stanza juft above and after him, viz. Horror, Whiles fad Celeno, fitting on a clifte, A fong of bale and bitter forrow fings. Thefe verfes are finely turned; and the repetition of the letters have a vifible force. In prae

But a faint fhadow of uncertein light.] Lux incerta dubia. See note on B. i. C. 1. St. 14. Or as the Moon cloathed with cloudy night Does fhew to him that walks in fear and fad affright ὥς τις τε νέῳ ἐνὶ ἤματι μήνην

Η ἴδεν ἢ ἐδόκησεν ἐπαχλύεσαν ἰδέσθαι,

Apollon. iv. 1479. Which verfes Virgil has imitated. Aen. iv. 453, Qualem primo qui furgere menfe Aut videt aut vidiffe putat per nubila lunam. -Come fuol da fera Guardar l'un l'altro fotto nuova luna.

XXXIII.

Dante Infern. xv.